Federal Republic of Britain
The Federal Republic of Britain, commonly called Britain, is a federal presidential republic in northwestern Europe, which only exists in the altcanon. It came into existence following the dissolution of the European Federation in 2154, breaking from it during its civil war. Due to fears that the United European Mechanocracy would stage an invasion of the British Isles once it considered itself ready, the newly-fledged republic aligned itself with the Commonwealth, Luna and the New Frenco Empire, and accepted a Lunar recommendation that it should organize itself along military lines and that it should seize Iceland and Jan Mayen as strategic bases. Within the alliance, it now serves as a bulwark against the Conglomerate and the Mechanocracy, and stations large numbers of Ardavian, Lunar and Frenkish units. Politics and society Britain is a military republic, where one can only become a full citizen by means of public service, and only full citizens can vote and hold public office. It is a presidential republic with a unicameral legislature (the congress), as defined in its constitution. The president is elected every six years, and members of congress serve four-year terms. A strong sense of militarism is developing in British culture, where military service, discipline, comradeship, duty, and initiative are all seen as virtues - a result of its perpetual war economy and social engineering. In the same way, McCarthyism is a normal and integral part of government and society; expressing sympathy for communism or mechanocracy will land one on a series of blacklists, and public support of communism is a criminal offense. Nevertheless, in peacetime relatively wide-reaching civil rights exist - at least for non-communists, and as long one does not challenge the nationwide reverence of militarism too much. In the actual event of war, Britain will be capable of full mobilization in a timeframe of 48 hours. Transition to War legislation can be activated by the president at any time without consulting congress. Military Since almost every aspect of the British society and economy is organized so as to be militarily useful, Britain posesses a military power far in excess of its size. Conscription is universal for men and women, industry kept running in the absence of adequate manpower by robotics. The vast majority of factories in the British Isles can be retooled to produce armaments at short notice, highways can serve as runways for aircraft, and so forth. Although programs to develop and field advanced domestically-produced equipment are underway, the British Armed Forces at present field mostly equipment supplied by the Commonwealth and the New Frenco Empire. Defensive Efforts: "Fortress Britain" As the primary foothold of the alliance in Europe, Britain is deeply fortified. Camouflaged SAM sites, munitions depots, and carefully hidden fortifications dot the countryside, and it plays home to a permanent military presence of over 200 divisions, close to three million fighting men. Most of these troops are local personnel or refugees from continental Europe (over 40 divisions of the British Army are former EFAC units), with the largest of the foreign contingents being the 14-divisions-strong Commonwealth Army of Europe. Intended to facilitate defense in depth across the Isles or support a military incursion into continental Europe, these fortifications and supply depots cover the isles from end to end, allowing defending forces to either fall back to prepared positions with supply depots waiting, or hold the line and bring up supplies from the rear. Air force Following the establishment of the republic, an extensive program of airbase construction and reactivation was undertaken, a successor to the V-bomber program of the 1960s was begun, and a network of airbases designated as V-bomber dispersal bases. Of the operational airbases, a proportion are in use by Frenkish, Commonwealth or Lunar forces. The air force's primary tasks are achieving air superiority over the battlefield, providing transport and air support for the ground forces, and organizing the strategic bomber forces. Naval forces The Navy is smaller in proportion to the army and air force; a consequence of its potential enemies' lack of naval power is that this is adequate to protect the isles from hostile invasion. However, the marine corps and the Fleet Air Arm are very large compared to the navy, as part of Britain's role in the alliance is to be capable of successfully executing an amphibious landing anywhere in Europe, in order to establish a bridgehead and allow non-amphibious units to land and begin the primary phase of the invasion. Category:Countries